A Christmas Tale
by RandomWriter11
Summary: A fanfiction featuring Psalty, Paige and Riley O'Connor, Sophia Lauren, Jason Spielman, Miss Ellie, Chef Emerald, Gabriel, Michael, and Mr. Herod Some people who experience weird things on Christmas but learn things along the way.
1. Prologue- A Christmas Calamity

Paige was just too excited to think. Every single Christmas for their vacation she and her sister, Riley, would join the children's choir at Psalty's. Psalty was a singing songbook. They had been doing this ever since Paige was 5 and Riley was 8. Since they were out of their house, they knew how to handle pretty much everything. They both grew up with Psalty. Now Paige was 9 and Riley was 12. Three years from now Riley had to stop the children's choir and join the youth choir. But since they did this every single year, but why was Paige excited now? Well, this year, Paige will be in a different room. She used to be in the 'Younger Kids' room, but now she was finally going to the 'Older Kids' room with her sister.

The blonde-haired girls walked in a large room filled with Christmas decorations. There was a large garland of wreaths all around the walls. In the middle stood a huge Christmas tree. Paige knew this place very well, so she walked into her room without keeping her eyes away from the Christmas decorations. Riley reluctantly pulled her hand away.

"You're not going there anymore this year." She explained.

"Oh, yeah, that's right!" Paige giggled. Riley lead the way to the 'Older Kids' room. It wasn't exactly that much of a difference, only the rooms they'd be staying in, but Paige was still excited. She was excited about everything related to Christmas.

Paige and Riley stepped into the room that was just as equally decorated. All around there were kids chatting. Paige followed Riley to a nice little corner in the 'Girls' section and set her bags down.

"Here's where we'll be sleeping." Riley said, placing her white sleeping bag on the floor. Paige followed her sister and set down her bright blue sleeping bag and pillows. Paige picked up a small sheep stuffed animal with a blue bow and set it on her sleeping bag. She stared at Riley's, who had an identical sheep with a green bow. They had the sheep since they were 2 years old.

"So what do you want to do?" Riley asked, sitting down on her sleeping bag.

Paige sat down on hers.

"I don't know, I'm really looking forward to practice." She said. Riley smiled.

"Sure, we can just wait here." Riley said.

Paige and Riley picked a good seat at the third row.

"This is the part where Psalty comes!" Paige said excitedly, giving Riley a good shake. And sure enough, a songbook came onto the stage and waved.

"So hello everyone! I hope you're having a wonderful day!" He said. The kids cheered.

"To those of you who don't know, I'm Psalty the talking songbook, and we're here to perform for the church." More cheers.

"First of all, we need rules. The first one is not to wander off your rooms unless you need to go to the bathroom. But other than that, you are not supposed to wander around."

"Next rule, never bully or tease other kids here. We haven't gotten any incidents of this here at The Light House Mission, and we aren't willing to start. Everybody in this room is equal, and we should all focus on praising God. Miss Ellie, come over here, please."

A woman with a nice brown ponytail came up on the stage.

"It's Miss Ellie!" Paige exclaimed, as the kids cheered. Miss Ellie was Psalty's 22-year-old assistant.

"Miss Ellie is my assistant, and you can tell her if you feel that something is wrong." Psalty explained. Miss Ellie gave the kids a big smile.

"And chef Emerald here is your new chef." Psalty said. A chef came on the stage. He was wearing a nice white suit, and clearly new to Psalty's staff.

"So next rule is to always remember what we're here for, and that is to praise God. So let's warm up!" Psalty said. The kids cheered, and Miss Ellie helped the younger ones onto the stage.

"

"So let's start by singing a simple 'Joy to the World'." Psalty said, as Paige found a good spot right next to her sister. Psalty opened up and handed each of the kids a page from his songbook. Paige stared blankly at the paper. It looked very dusty. Even if she knew the song, her voice seemed to rely on the notes. Miss Ellie gave a thumbs up and they started singing.

They were doing just fine, but halfway the kids got out of tune. Paige never realised the power of Psalty's pages. Nor did her sister. Nor did anyone... But this year his pages were clearly very dusty.

"What happened, Psalty?" One kid asked.

"It seems my pages are dusty." Psalty replied.

"Kids, you can go back to your rooms, and I promise we can figure this out tomorrow." He said. Miss Ellie and the kids looked worried. The kids got out of the stage and stacked up all their papers with "Joy to the World"

"It's never been like this before. Ever." Paige said. Riley nodded.

"Psalty _is_ quite old..." She said. Paige looked at her sister like it was the end of the world.

"Riley, you don't mean..." She began,

"Paige, he's already 71." Riley replied.

"I'm surprised he isn't even taking a break for a year or two." Paige shook her head.

"But Psalty can't quit, he's been doing this for 20 years. That's even before we were born!" She exclaimed.

"And he won't be quitting any time soon." The girls heard a voice. They turned around to see chef Emerald.

"Psalty suggested I cook something for you guys, and kids aren't allowed in the kitchens." The chef said politely. Riley looked around.

"Oh, we just lost our way." She apologized. Paige nodded.

"Are you girls new around here? Because I sure am! Today I'm only going to use one burner, since, well, I can't really keep track of food around here." Emerald explained.

"Oh, we know how to cook," Paige said. Riley gave her a small nudge. Emerald looked surprise.

"Really?"

Paige nodded. They always had cooking classes.

"If I could, I'd let you in the kitchen, but I'm afraid you aren't allowed." Emerald explained once more.(talk about redundancy)

"Oh, I really need to get cooking. Have a good day, girls!" And with that, Emerald opened the kitchen door and went inside.

The kids all had a nice roasted chicken for dinner that night. The night that was supposed to be full of fun singing. But instead there was no Psalty, only Miss Ellie to keep them company. All the kids were bored, especially the younger ones.

"I think we should do something about this." One kid said. Paige, Riley, and the others nodded.

"Hey, I know!" Another kid added,

"We could wash his pages!" Psalty wasn't exactly paper. His pages were very special. So of course, they all had to agree.

"I don't really think washing the pages is a good idea." Miss Ellie said, blocking kids out of the bathroom.

"But what about Psalty?" One of the kids said. Miss Ellie looked at the small child.

"Psalty will find a way, I'm sure." Miss Elle replied. Riley and Paige were the only ones staying put in their seats.

"I think we should do it, though." Paige whispered.

"But how can we do it if..." Riley began, but Paige looked at her with a smirk. And since they were sisters, Riley knew what it meant.

"But we'd get in trouble..." She started. Paige sighed.

"I don't know what will happen, but we _have_ to sing for the church this year." She said. Riley shrugged,

"We could try." She said. Paige smiled. It was always better doing things with Riley.

Paige lay still on her sleeping bag , clutching her small sheep plushie andlooking at the ceiling. she couldn't sleep, thinking about the problem with Psalty's pages. Paige turned to the side.

"Psssstt... Riley, are you awake?" She whispered. Riley turned to face her.

"I guess it's just gonna be us doing this?" She asked. Paige sat up. Then almost everyone sat up.

"Nope. we're all doing this." She said. Nobody was guarding the room, so all the girls snuck out, and soon all the boys did, too. The kids got their own soaps out of their bags if they had some, and then they got some from the bathroom.

The kids walked to Psalty's room that was left unlocked for some reason, carrying all sorts of different soaps, and to their surprise Psalty was awake. There was a small desk lamp on his wooden table, and on it was a Bible. Psalty jolted up.

"You kids aren't supposed to wander around. Much less with soap in your hands." He said. A kid sighed.

"We just thought about washing your pages, Psalty." She said. The rest nodded. But one impatient kid was already scrubbing Psalty, who was terrified. The rest joined in. Soon, Psalty's pages were soaked. The kids took some note sheets and started singing a song called " Away in a Manger". It filled the whole room, but their voices started getting way too high. Miss Ellie, Emerald, and some other staff rushed in when they heard the song.

"Psalty what happened?" Emerald asked. Psalty was rubbing his eyes.

"Washing my pages wasn't the answer." Psalty said. The kids sadly stacked up the sheets, and Paige and Riley hung their heads.

"Kids, I'm really sorry. This was supposed to be a fun Christmas camp, and now it just turned into a Christmas calamity." The kids looked at the blue songbook sadly. For some, their first time at the Light House Mission was ruined. But for Paige and Riley and a few others, their whole life was ruined.

"We won't be able to sing this year, but that doesn't mean that we can't have fun." Miss Ellie told Psalty.

"I haven't experienced much, but I know that it's not by might, nor by power, but by the spirit that we can praise God." She added. The kids and staff nodded. Psalty smiled.

"I can't beleive I haven't realized that this whole time." He said. One kid spoke up.

"We just wanted to meet you, Psalty. It doesn't matter if we can't sing."

It was a very long moment, and almost everyone was sleepy. But they all realized that sometimes things don't go as planned, and all you have to do is deal with it.


	2. Chapter 1- After 13 Years

Paige opened up her nice black laptop. Riley would come back from work in about an hour now, maybe she could help her. After graduating from college at 22, Paige never really thought about her first job. Riley was working at the Light House Mission. What Paige really wanted to do was sign up with a record label and grab herself a music career.

After countless searching, she found something called Spielman Recording Studios. And she didn't look at the description very well, she just called the number right away.

"Hello, this is Spielman Recording Studios."

"Hi, I would like a job application as a backstage helper."

"Of course! All I need is your name, age, educational status, and all that stuff you can find in job applications. Or should I say it all? I'm pretty sure there's a form on the website. Or you could come over here. Where do you live? Is that a bit too private? Sorry..."

"Actually, I'll just come over there after my older sister gets home from work. The name's Paige O'Connor, thanks."

Paige put down her phone. This Spielman guy really needed an assistant.

The door opened, and Riley came in.

"I've been looking for a job." Paige said. Riley collapsed onto the bed.

"Really? Where?" She asked.

"Spielman's Recording Studios. I was wondering is we could go there together." Paige replied. Riley shrugged.

"Sure, where is it located?"

"It's two miles away from here."

"you aren't going to work that far from here are you?"

"Maybe I'll move out?"

Riley looked at her sister like she was insane.

"I haven't moved out myself! And I'm sure there are other-"

"Riley, just trust me. I'll find a good area."

"So my younger sister is moving out and getting a job while I'm sticking around at the house helping at the Light House Mission."

"Why don't you find another job then?"

"I'm fine with my job, what I'm not fine with is about you moving out. Don't forget this is your first time, Paige."

"Just take me there."

At this, Riley nodded.

"Do you have a map?" She asked. Paige took out her phone and opened up a map.

"Ok, lets go." Riley said. Paige gave her sister a big hug and followed her down to the garage.

The studio was black and red, and it had a large star bearing the logo. Paige hopped out of Riley's red car and opened the doors.

"Name." A guard said, bearing a straight face. Paige and Riley said their names and went inside.

"You can wait for MR. Spielman there." The straight-faced security guard pointed to some red chairs. Riley and Paige took a seat while the security guard talked to someone on his phone.

A few moments later someone wearing a nice black leather jacket with a black hat came and greeted Paige and Riley.

"So who here is Paige O'Connor?" He asked. Paige raised her hand up.

"Well, I'm Jason Spielman, but you can call me Mr. Spielman, and I'm really needing an assistant." Spielman explained.

"So, I know that it's past Christmas already, but every single Christmas we put together a nice film. But other than that, I need an assistant to help me with tracking schedules, getting auditions together, actor coordination, understudies, and all that stuff. There's actually a nice vacant room in here if you want to live int his building, we actually have a make-up artist and hairstylist living here, and you'll be getting paid $100 per month, and will work whenever I need you from 8AM to 11PM."

Paige had a lot to take into.

"Um, sure I'd like to take it..." She said.

"Well, great then! Just fill out this..." Spielman began, looking for something.

"I'll be right back." Paige nodded and started talking to Riley.

"I have a vacant room right here with a make-up artist and a hairstylist." Paige said. Riley sighed.

"But why in here? I don't even know if this is a record label, Paige. Seems more like a movie studio to me." She said.

"I know," Paige replied, "But Spielman _needs_ an assistant. He even forgot the application form. And if I could be a big help to him, then I will." Riley clutched Paige's hand.

"I'll let you stay here, only if you promise to come over every Christmas." She said. Paige looked worried.

"He said every Christmas they have a film..." She started, Riley cut her out.

"I'll come, then! I'll do anything to see my sister."

Spielman walked in carrying a clipboard.

"So this isn't a record label?" Paige asked, although she already knew, hearing about the make-up artist and hairstylist, and cast coordination and things. Spielman nodded.

"But if it makes you feel any better, we film musicals." He said. Paige nodded and took out the small pen that was attached tot he clipboard and started to fill out the form.

"Thank you so much, miss Paige. You are now part of Spielman Recording Studios! I did think about the name, but it would cost too much to change it..." Spielman said after Paige handed out the form.

"Now, your work starts one week from now, if you'd still have to pack up."

Paige nodded.

"I'll be staying here." She said. Then she and her sister exited the building.

Paige and Riley were having a nice take-out for dinner. They had lived alone since Paige was 19, often visiting their parents and relatives.

"Paige, you can always change your mind, you know." Riley said. Paige shook her head.

"Mr. Spielman will be disappointed." She replied.

"Why do you suddenly call him 'Mr. Spielman' and care that he'll be upset? You don't live to please him." Riley said, taking a bite of her food. Paige sighed.

"I just have a feeling about this studio I'm going to be working at." She said, "It's quite hard to explain." Riley munched on her food.

"I don't really get paid much back at the Mission, and you get $100 per month." She said.

"Well then," Paige replied, "You're the older one, find a new job. And besides, we each can get $50."

"Wouldn't that be..."

"Unfair? Riley, you're my sister, and it's fine if I get less of my monthly salary. It's just money anyways. And I can't let thaat stand between us."

Riley smiled.

"Even your..." She started, but Paige knew where this was going.

"I'm still working for MR. Spielman, whether you like it or not." Paige replied.

~2 days later~

Paige hopped in Riley's red car carrying a huge bag full of things that showed how close she was to her sister. It had just been two days, but Paige packed up her things and already had a moving van.

"So your room is gonna be room 3 right?" Riley asked, making sure of Paige's 'Address'. Paige nodded.

"You know where to get food and stuff? Is there a kitchen?" Riley asked again.

"I'm pretty sure MR. Spielman will have the necessities." Paige replied.

"Just be careful, Paige."

"I know. I'll miss you, too." Although Riley only said to be careful, Paige knew Riley meant 'I'll miss you'.

Paige gave Rilley a big, tight hug before settling in on her bed. Two girls came in her room. One of them had black hair with multi-colored streaks, wearing a belt full of brushes and hairclips, while the other one wore a labcoat and had some pretty wild eyeshadow, which she had clearly put on very well.

"Are you..." Paige started to ask, but the one wearing the labcoat beat her to it.

"The make-up artist and hairstylist, yes." She said.

"I'm Pricilla."

"And I'm Veronica." The one with the crazy hair materials said.

"I'm Paige." Paige introduced herself, and the three girls shook hands.

"We've been working her for quite some time." Pricilla explained.

"About a year," Veronica added,

"Since we were 22."

"So we're the same age. That's nice." Paige said.

"I heard there's this girl called Lisa who's gonna be Mary in the Christmas show." Pricilla said.

"Wait, this has been around for a year now, right?" Paige asked. Pricilla and Veronica nodded.

"Well, let's hope Lisa comes back next year. Last year it didn't really turn out well, but this year, I hope it will." Veronica replied.

"But Christmas is in 10 months." Paige commented.

"And if you don't have some actors, then..."

"I know what you mean," Veronica said.

"It's quite confusing. You see, last year what we did was practice for about 8 months since casting takes long, then we present a play to those who wish to come while filming it. It's quite hectic, if you ask me." Pricilla explained. It took time for Paige to take it all in.

"So this 'Lisa' person, when's she gonna..." Paige began, but Mr. Spielman barged in through the door.

"I'm sorry, Paige, you have to come quick. We have a new actor, Lisa, and she is driving the whole crew nuts."

Pricilla and Veronica exchanged looks and followed Paige out of the room and into the stage hall, where a tall, blonde-haired girl with blue eyes and a white dress was standing in front of a large mirror, and the cameras were all facing her.

"Blonde hair and blue eyes? Seriously?" Pricilla commented.

"I need to have my own trailer. I suppose you don't have that here? What a rubbish studio." The girl said, rolling her eyes. The cameras were still focused on her face.

"I don't know why Lisa signed up for this rubbish." The girl said. Paige and Spielman exchanged surprised looks.

"So you're not Lisa?" Spielman asked. The girl scoffed.

"I'm not Lisa, I'm her manager and understudy, and I need a trailer of my own, Spielman! I can't have my perfectly talented Lisa work here without one, thank you very much." She said. Spielman looked very taken aback.

"I'm Lisa." They heard a voice. A girl who had blonde hair and chestnut eyes wearing a red dress came in.

"OK, you are Lisa, and that girl was..." Spielman began,

"My understudy, Dawn. Anyway, when do we start?" Lisa asked.

"We haven't really gotten all the casting ready just yet." Spielman explained.

"Spielman, where is Wardrobe?" Dawn came in and asked.

"Oh, it's um... First door to the right." Spielman said. Dawn flipped her blonde hair right in front of Spielman's face and walked away.

"I think you should go put up some signs." Paige suggested. Spielman nodded.

"Wait, what is she doing in Wardrobe?" He wondered out loud, then ran to the hall. Paige reluctantly followed him, with Pricilla and Veronica trailing behind.

"That's not the right way to take off your contacts, girl." Pricilla said. Spielman, Paige, Veronica, and now even Lisa had just came to Wardrobe.

"Well, as an actress, I need a make-up artist, and that must be you." Dawn said. Pricilla rolled her eyes and removed the blue contactlenses, revealing dark green eyes. Veronica joined in and tugged Dawn's hair. Dawn raised an eyebrow, but something made Veronica reach in and pull out some hair extensions.

"Miss Dawn, may I ask what you're doing in Wardrobe?" Spielman asked. Dawn rolled her eyes, pushing Veronica and Pricilla away.

"I'm your new Wardrobe manager, aside from being Lisa's understudy." Dawn said.

"But I won't be here for long, though. You see, I've tried working with Lionsgate and other large companies, but they just won't hire me. And this place is just cheap trash. You don't even have the full staff, and you've been existing for a year now!" She exclaimed.

"I know this studio isn't at all that advanced, you're here for one purpose and that's to glorify God, right?" Spielman asked. Dawn scoffed,

"I have no time for Christian rubbish." She said.

"Now, I've arranged for some applications in cast coordination and all that other stuff that's a necessity to any filming company."

Spielman shook his head.

"Dawn, I'm sorry, but I won't let you, or any other staff in unless you stop this demanding attitude. And you can find a newer company to throw your employees at." He said. Dawn rolled her eyes.

"You know what Spielman? You're right. I shouldn't be wasting time in such a trashy studio. I deserve better. You're lucky I don't have authorities at my back, because if I did then this studio will no longer exist." She said, and walked out of the room. Paige looked at Spielman like he was missing a large opportunity, which he was. Except she didn't really want to tell him.

"I don't even know how this whole studio will work out. I mean, most studios offer about $700 per month. And my sister earns about $10 per day." Paige said to Pricilla and Veronica that night, right after they showed her some tips with hair and make-up. Now they all had braided hair and a facial mask, telling each other things about themselves.

"Well, we thought that, too. When this studio was first starting." Pricilla said.

"But what changed your mind not to leave?" Paige asked.


	3. Chapter 2- Be Alert

Listening to the voices coming from his white laptop almost irritated Gabriel, but he had to be fair to all the 50 people who were part of his choir. Actually, his and his friend Michael's choir.

"Tired yet?" Michael asked. Gabriel nodded, even though he didn't want to. Michael had already done 20 people, as Gabriel volunteered to do more.

"You know, if you can't do it-" Michael started, but Gabriel stopped him.

"I can do it, I'm pretty sure, I just need a little time to rest. I keep on hearing the same song over and over again with different voices and notes. And I'm pretty sure I've chosen a soprano and a bass already." He said. Michael shrugged and plopped a small angel mug on the table that contained hot cocoa. Gabriel wasn't really the caffeine type.

"Thanks." Gabriel said. Michael nodded and went out of the room.

Gabriel loved the taste of the cocoa, but then he went back into reality and clicked on a video of someone called "Angelica".

Gabriel woke up at 4AM as usual. It was in his body clock to wake up at 4AM, since he got ready for 30 minutes and preparation took another 30 minutes, he and Michael always warmed up for about an hour, general breakfast was for another 30 minutes, and choir practice started at 7AM. It was all worth it. Gabriel's life was devoted to choir and singing. Even Michael's.

"So...?" Michael asked when he and Gabriel met.

"You first." Gabriel said. Michael nodded.

"I've decided that Harpo will be the tenor and Halo will be the 2nd soprano." He said. Gabriel opened up his white and gold notebook and wrote Harpo and Halo's names on the right spots.

"Now," He said, staring at the notebook.

"I've decided that Amelia will be the alto, Angelica will be the 1st soprano, and I'll be the baritone and you'll be the bass as usual."

Michael nodded, and they started telling each other the lists of the other people who won't get to have mics whenever they sing.

Gabriel looked into the mirror of the choir director's room and fixed the collars of his white suit while Michael dusted out the choirbook. Harpo and Halo were already at the main room they used for practicing.

"I heard Harpo and Halo are having a room in here, like us." Gabriel said, brushing his hair to the side. Michael sighed.

"Hard to believe they're already 18 now." He said. Harpo and Halo were very talented choir singers, but they were obnoxious. They were like that ever since they were classmates with Gabriel and Michael at 13 years old, when Gabriel was 18 and Michael was 21 as the assistant leader. Once you're 21, you can either stay as a member or get promoted as an assistant leader at the Calvari Community Church choir.

Michael added, "And can you believe Angelica is already 17?" Gabriel's eyes widened. Out of all the singers, Angelica was the nice, baby-faced choir member. He wondered if she could keep that face for long.

"I'm pretty sure Amelia's 16 and Amy's 15." Gabriel commented. Every single year, Gabriel and Michael acted like they haven't seen the choir for at least 2 years, which was probably because they had a junior choir, primary choir, and an advanced choir to handle every year. Each choir got 2 hours every single day, so all in all Gabriel and Michael would work for 150 hours to put on 3 choir shows every Christmas. The advanced choir was their favorite, since some of them were classmates from before.

When it was finally 7AM, Gabriel and Michael stepped out to greet the advanced choir. But right before Michael could say anything, his phone rang.

"Um, hello?"

"Hi, is this Michael from Calvari Community Church?"

"Uh, yes. Can I help you?"

"We're looking for a choir."

"Um, what kind of choir? Because we have primary, junior, and avanced."

"We need all of your amazing choirs there."

"Uh, we're actually having a Christmas show-"

"We are, too, and we would really appreciate it if you'd come and hold it at Spielman Recording Studios."

"We aren't really going for a record label,"

"It's a studio for filming, and this is only our second year. We have a Christmas story and some songs ready, but I think we need new ones... Just please consider bringing the whole choir here."

"Um, I guess we could actually."

"Really? Great! If you could just bring them now, then we could discuss the payment and others."

"Um, where exactly is-"

"Google it."

Then the call ended.

"So, anyway, I guess now we have to google it. And don't worry, we'll be back in about 30 minutes before the actual stop time, I'll just notify the church." Michael said. He nodded to Gabriel, who shushed the chattering crowd.

"Now, let's warm up."

 _1 day later_

Gabriel and Michael stepped in Spielman's studio. This was one day after the call, since they had to notify all the parents about the new show, plus all the googling and getting kids to the studio safely. The guard did the exact same thing he did to Paige when she came to sign up. He politely sat all of them down and let them wait.

"Oh, is this the choir?" Spielman asked, looking at all the singers in the room. Michael nodded.

"I'm Michael, the leader of this choir, and this is my assistant leader and friend Gabriel." He said. Spielman shook their hands.

"I'm Mr. Spielman, and this is my assistant Paige." Spielman said. Paige respectfully shook their hands as well. She had been carrying a clipboard for her job, and she handed the forms out to Gabriel and Michael.

"We'll be needing a list of all your choir members and the necessary information." Paige explained, as Gabriel and Michael stared at the blank form. After a few seconds, Michael nodded and took out a pen.

"So now that we have choir members," Paige said "happily",

"What are we gonna do if we don't have any original songs?"

"We'll see what we can do." Spielman replied,

"Which reminds me, I need help dusting out some songbooks. If we only had a janitor, I'd have-"

"I'll do it, it's all fine for me." Piage lied. She felt more than just an assistant. She felt like she was a slave. And she had to pretend she was fine with everything, even after all Pricilla and veronica told her about their history with Mr. Spielman.


End file.
